


Dream Again

by khgirl153



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Gen, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 21:34:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23773924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/khgirl153/pseuds/khgirl153
Summary: Ronan is stuck, and he doesn't know how to get out. But that's what Opal does: rescue her "Kerah".
Relationships: Ronan Lynch & Adam Parrish & Orphan Girl | Opal, Ronan Lynch & Orphan Girl | Opal, Ronan Lynch/Adam Parrish
Kudos: 31





	Dream Again

**Author's Note:**

> Hey everyone! I know that I should be working on my Persona series or maybe another Miraculous Ladybug fic. But lately, I've been kind of in a slump. So I'm hoping, by writing this all out, I'll be able to find that spark again.
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> I don't own the Raven Cycle or any of the characters. All rights belong to Maggie Stiefvator.

Ronan should have been back by now. Adam was staying at the Barns for a school break, and there's no way that Ronan was going to miss that. But after an hour of when Ronan said that he would return, Opal had the funny sense in her stomach that something was wrong. Even Chainsaw was acting antsy, cawing in that way that made Opal want to bite him despite Ronan warning her not to. So, following that funny sense, Opal clomps out of the house and begins her search. First, she checked the big barn (that she was absolutely not allowed to go in because Ronan told her so). But she reasoned that if he was in danger, Opal could be forgiven. But he wasn't there. So she tried looking over in the fields, turning her nose up at the overly ripe fruit that had fallen to the ground. Which was odd, because Ronan was beyond reproach when it came to tending his beloved grounds. With no results there, Opal ran over to the fields where animals, dreamed and real, were allowed to roam. The elk were aplenty, the cows were chewing contently, and everything was as it should be. Well, for the most part. Expect that everything was moving much slower than usual. Even the black and white of the cow's hide was looking dim and grey.

For anyone of Ronan's livestock to look so dismal was a surefire alarm. As his dream companion and guide, Opal simply could not ignore this. If anything, this backs up the ugly feeling growing incessantly in her stomach and heart.

There was only one more place for her to look in: the fields where Ronan liked to carve wheels in the muddy earth with his too loud and crazy cars.

But when she clomps over there, one mystery was solved as a new one developed. There in front of her was one of Ronan's monster-like cars. In that monster-like car was Ronan. As Opal clomps closer to the driver's side, though, she sees Ronan staring blankly into the dark forest in front of him. She looks in the direction that he's staring at, only to be greeted with dull blackness that held none of the ugliness that she had learned to fear when she had fled Cabeswater all those months ago. It was nothing. Just blackness. Opal turns to look back at Ronan, who had slumped down and pressed his forehead against the steering wheel.

She clomps around to the passenger side of the car and tests the door handle. Unlocked. With a tug, Opal climbs into the seat and perches herself next to Ronan. Not even a grunt in greeting. She peers closer to check for any sign of the black inkiness that had plagued him not too long before Adam had left for college. There was a fishy smell that Opal didn't like, but no ink. Not yet.

"Kerah," she whispers, poking his shoulder.

There was a grunt. He had told her to call him Ronan in the past. But if this will get a reaction out of him, then she'll do it.

"Kerah," she tries again, giving him another poke.

"Go away," he mutters.

"Adam's coming."

"Give me a minute."

Opal huffs and crosses her arms. "You stopped dreaming again," she accuses.

"I haven't stopped," he shoots back, finally looking up at her with his usual annoyance. At least he still has his spirit.

"Then where are your dreams? Where'd they go?"

He waves a dismissive hand and plants his forehead against the steering wheel again. "They're still there. Not like they need me around every second of every day."

If Opal wasn't sure before that something was wrong, then she knew now.

"Kerah," she says with a whisper, less in fear of him and more so of fear for him. "Your dreams need you. And you need them."

Ronan snorts. "I don't got it."

She tilts her head. "What?"

"I don't got it anymore," he repeats. "Energy. Strength. Reason. Nothing's coming out right anymore." His shoulders sag, and Opal has to fight back the urge to cry.

He was dying. When Ronan was a child, the magic and flow of his dreams were near unstoppable. There was even a time when he was flying on translucent wings. Opal should know. She was there, flying with him within the confines of the Barns. When he was little, that was plenty of room. But as he got older and became more exposed to this world's sharp angles and rigid lines, everything became too small. Too constricting. Not enough.

"Why?' she asks when Ronan doesn't continue.

"I don't know," he growls, gripping the steering wheel tight as he looks out at that deep darkness again. "Everything was going fine. Just fine. Then nothing."

"Nothing?"

"That's what I said."

She frowns and clenches her hands. "But if you don't dream, nothing will happen."

"I know that!" He sits up and rubs his hands across his neck and buzzed head. "I know that..." he repeats gently, resting his hands on his neck and his elbows on the steering wheel.

She pauses, taking in the sight of her strong and powerful dreamer looking as small and helpless as the day the darkness had tried to swallow him whole. He was under another kind of illness. Something that she can't see. But she can definitely smell it. Like fish and blood, and a hint of that inky scent. Whatever it was, it was another version of darkness that was trying to take her Kerah away from her and Adam. And maybe Chainsaw, but she didn't matter.

"It's okay," she whispers, reaching one hand out to grab his elbow. "It's okay. It doesn't have to be perfect. Dream one tiny thing at a time. Even if it's silly. Just dream."

Ronan turns his head and gives her a crooked smile. "Since when did you start speaking so good?"

Opal smiles back, the beginnings of relief chasing away that stink in her nose and the knot in her stomach. "By listening."

"To who?"

"You."

"Probably not a good idea."

"And Adam."

"Better." He turns his head again and sighs. "I don't want to lose it..."

"Dreams?"

"Yeah..."

She shakes her head. "You can't lose it. You dream. It's who you are."

Ronan doesn't say anything. But she knows he's listening. Even when he pretends not to, she knows that he's always paying attention. At least to the things that he cares about. And what's more important to a dreamer than dreams?

"Kerah," she pushes on. He grunts. "Do you want to stop dreaming?"

"Hell no," he shoots back, sitting up and looking at her fully. He's glaring now, but he doesn't push her hand off of his elbow.

"Then dream," she says. "Dream, dream, dream. Don't stop. Dream."

He snorts and smiles. Finally. "What do you want me to dream? Something that will keep you out of my hair for the next hour or two?"

"I don't think you can ever dream up something like that," Adam shoots out, leaning over to peer into the driver's side. He laughs when Ronan jumps and looks at him with owlish eyes. "Sorry. Should I have knocked?"

"You don't think I can do it?" Ronan asks, ignoring the question. It was supposed to come out as a growl. But the sight of his boyfriend made him soft. Everything about him became soft in a way that made Opal think, it's going to be okay.

Adam shrugs, a gleam in his eyes as he nods in greeting to Opal before turning back to Ronan. "I don't know. Maybe we should let her in the barn. I bet she could find a ton of things to keep her busy."

Ronan's jaw drops, and he barks out a laugh. "And risk her unleashing a shitstorm? Not happening."

"And what are you going to do about it?"

The dreamer growls and jumps out of his car, eyes aglow as Adam steps back with a matching grin. "Watch me. You haven't seen anything yet."

"Better stop talking and get to work," Adam teases, yelping as Ronan grabs him around his waist and hauls him over his shoulder.

"Oh, I'll get to work," Ronan says as he charges off. Towards the house.

Opal blinks, having been left alone in the car. There was no danger of her driving around in a wild rampage. If there was one thing she hated more than Ronan's darkness, it's stinky, noisy cars. She climbs out and shuts the door behind her, dashing after the duo. When she reaches the farmhouse, she arrives just in time to see Ronan, still carrying Adam, enter the house before slamming it behind them. Judging by the amused look on Adam's face and the wide grin on Ronan's lips, plus the rosiness blooming on both of their cheeks, Opal can easily imagine what they were going to be doing. And it definitely didn't consist of Ronan dreaming up a distraction for Opal.

She was tempted to clomp into the house. It wouldn't have been the first time. She had to make sure that they were okay. But a glowing ball flutters out one of the open windows from the second floor, lands in her hands, a warmth spread across her chest as the tightness in her stomach vanishes. It was small. Nothing that can help the Barns grow and flourish. But it made Ronan grow. It was a dream that he made real. Not perfect. But beautiful.

The magic was still there. It always will be.

**Author's Note:**

> How do you recapture the magic?


End file.
